China has no qualms about RI war games
JAKARTA (JP): China is not upset with the big military exercise currently being conducted by Indonesia in the Natuna Islands, Indonesia's Armed Forces Chief Gen. Feisal Tanjung said yesterday.
Feisal said Beijing's position was stated by Gen. Fu Quangyou, the People's Liberation Army chief of general affairs currently visiting Indonesia.
"There is no problem," he told reporters when asked about China's reaction to the on-going war games in the South China Sea.
Speaking after escorting his guest to Bina Graha, where he paid a courtesy call on President Soeharto, Feisal said that Indonesia had explained the military drill to China.
"Did they accept the explanation?" journalists asked.
"Of course," Feisal replied.
He stressed that the visit has no connection whatsoever to the Natuna war games, and that it is intended to forge closer relations between the two countries.
Gen. Fu also explained Beijing's position regarding Hong Kong and Taiwan, and promised that the two territories would be left as they are now if and when they are reunited, Feisal said.
China earlier said that it was closely watching the exercises around the Natunas, to which it has made veiled claims.
The exercise came in the wake of a Chinese protest of the talks held between Taiwanese foreign minister John Chang and Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Alatas in Jakarta last week.
China said that it has made a "serious representation" to the Indonesian embassy in Beijing over the meeting.
Alatas has stated that Chang was in Indonesia in a private capacity and reiterated Indonesia's "One-China" policy of recognizing only Beijing as the representative of China.
On Monday, Maj. Gen. Prabowo Subianto, the commandant-general of the Army's special force, Kopassus, was in Beijing on a goodwill visit.
In the joint exercise, which began on Sept. 4 and will wind up on Sept. 19, more than 195,000 troops, 40 fighter jets and 50 warships are taking part in a mock-operation to recapture the Natunas, an area which is not only strategically situated in the South China Sea but also rich in oil and gas.
The Armed Forces has denied that the drill is intended as a show of force, adding that the choice of location on the northern frontier of the islands was not aimed at provoking its neighbors.
Meanwhile, Antara reported from the Natunas that a large-scale amphibious operation got underway yesterday as part of the exercises in the run up to D-Day on Saturday.
Some 1,000 marines will be part of the massive landing in Sangiap Bay.
Three companies from the Marines arrived yesterday on neighboring Subi, Matak and Serasan islands, while a fleet of 40 warships left Tanjung Priok port for Natuna on Sunday.
Armed clashes began in the inner part of the islands with Indonesian fighters jets pounding the Ranai air base, which is under "enemy control", the news agency reported. (emb)